Seagate today announced channel and OEM shipments of the Momentus XT drive, the world’s fastest 2.5-inch laptop PC hard drive, combining SSD-like performance with the massive capacity and much lower cost of HDDs.

The Momentus XT drive also features Adaptive Memory – a groundbreaking new technology from Seagate that learns and optimizes the drive’s performance to each user by moving frequently used information into the flash memory for faster access. The Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive boots up to 100 percent faster than traditional 5400RPM drives, the mainstream spin speed for laptop PCs, and sets new benchmarks for real-world system performance for laptops and gaming systems.

Today’s high-performance SSDs for mobile computing cost as much as 10 times more than hard disk drives of the same capacity, with the price of a 250GB SSD outstripping even the cost of many laptop PCs. As a result, most consumers and system builders are unwilling or unable to pay the high price for the greater speed and quiet operations of SSDs. Additionally, SSDs offer fewer capacity options than hard disk drives.

The Momentus XT drive is a best-of-both-worlds solution that combines a 7200RPM spin speed, 4GB of solid state memory and Seagate’s Adaptive Memory technology to deliver unprecedented hard drive performance. The unique Adaptive Memory technology works by identifying patterns in how often certain digital data is used, and then moving the most frequently used information to the embedded solid state memory for faster access – effectively tailoring hard drive performance to each user and their applications.

Momentus XT Drive Brings Unprecedented Speed to New ASUS Gaming Laptop PC
ASUS has also announced that it will offer the Momentus XT drive as an upgrade option for its new Republic of Gamers (ROG) G73Jh notebook. The system is powered by an Intel i7 720Qm quad-core processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and DX11 capable ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870.

OCZ is expected to introduce its Enyo USB 3.0 solid state disk by mid-May. This device will ship in capacities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB, and the faster models promises read speeds of up to 260MB/s and write speeds of up to 200MB/s. Pricing is expected to be in the range of the SandForce-based Vertex 2 SSD, likely slightly higher.

The OCZ Enyo will be available in 64, 128 and 256GB volume sizes and all three drives use MLC NAND flash memory, have 64MB of on board cache and USB 3.0 Micro B connector interface.

Since we are talking about a USB 3.0 SSD-based external drive, you can expect speeds of up to 260MB/s for read and up to 200MB/s for write, with sustained speeds of up to 150MB/s for 128GB and 256GB versions. The 64GB one will have a bit lower speeds of up to 225MB/s for read and up to 135MB/s for write with sustained write of up to 40MB/s.

Patriot introduced the Zephyr, a new solid state disk series designed around the JMicron JM612 SSD controller. The disks are available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, and feature 64MB DDR2, TRIM and a max read speed of up to 240MB/s. The write speed depends on the model; it’s 85MB/s (64GB), 145MB/s (128GB) or 180MB/s (256GB). Pricing is unknown, but the company promises aggressive pricing.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the addition of the Zephyr series to its family of solid-state-drives (SSDs). The Zephyr series of SSD offer improved system responsiveness with quicker boot times and shorter application loading times over traditional hard disk drive storage solutions.

Patriot’s Zephyr series, available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, is designed around the latest generation controller from JMicron: JMF612. With a controller level cache of 64MB DDR2, the Zephyr series provide stutter-free performance and offer speeds of up to 240MB/s Read and 180MB/s Write. To maintain performance integrity over the life of the drive, the Zephyr series SSDs include native support for the TRIM command in Microsoft Windows® 7.

“As solid-state drive technology advances, it is becoming more affordable, allowing SSD solutions to reach an increasing segment of end users. Patriot’s objective is to offer the latest technology in our solutions which provide the best performance and price options”, states Les Henry, Vice President of Engineering at Patriot. “Our Zephyr family of SSDs offer great performance, aggressive pricing and the inherent benefit of SSD technology over antiquated hard disk drives: quicker boot times and shorter application loading times. Including a Zephyr SSD in your desktop or notebook upgrade plans provides one of the best bang-for-the buck improvements you can make to your system.”

The Zephyr family of SSDs are durable and reliable, with an aluminum housing to minimize typical wear and tear and with NAND memory at their core, there are no moving parts to fail, or be damaged from daily use in portable computing solutions. Additionally, the Zephyr family of SSDs provide incredible performance, reliability and a 3-year warranty.

Intel announced the X25-V Value SATA SSD with a capacity of 40GB, this new entry-level disk will retail for around $125. Admittedly, the write performance does disappoint though.

* Sustained Sequential Read: up to 170 MB/s
* Sustained Sequential Write: up to 35 MB/s

The Intel X25-V features 40GB of 34nm NAND flash memory. This non-volatile memory retains data, even when the power is turned off, and is used in applications such as smartphones, personal music players, memory cards or SSDs for fast and reliable storage of data. SSD benefits over a traditional HDD include higher performance, battery saving and ruggedness. “Adding the Intel X25-V to our existing family of high-performance SSDs gives our resellers a full range of high-performing, quality SSDs for notebook upgrades, dual-drive desktop set ups or embedded applications,” said Pete Hazen, director of marketing for the Intel NAND Solutions Group. “SSD adoption continues to be one of the more exciting trends in personal computing, and this entry-level product enables users to enjoy the productivity and performance benefits of Intel SSDs at a new price point.”

The 40GB Intel X25-V complements Intel’s higher performance Intel® X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD product line that offers 80GB and 160GB capacities. All Intel SSDs are designed and manufactured by Intel using its own NAND flash memory from IM Flash Technologies (IMFT) and include a proprietary controller and updatable firmware. The X25-V is priced at $125 for 1,000-unit quantities and is currently stocked and available in worldwide distribution.

G.Skill International today released its Falcon II SATA II 2.5″ Solid State Drive (SSD).

Featuring the new Indilinx ECO controller, the Falcon II SSD can be perfectly matched with the latest 34nm NAND flash memory, which has a greater data density for a positive impact on affordability for the customer. Along with a large 64MB DRAM cache and specialized controller design, the Falcon II SSD provides the ideal, stutter free stability and long life through advanced wear leveling algorithms.

The performance of the 64GB SSD is rated at 220/110MB/Sec (Read/Write), while the 128GB and 256GB SSDs are rated at an impressive 220/150MB/sec. In addition, the Falcon II will feature the latest Indilinx 1819 version firmware which offers improved support for the Windows 7 TRIM command.

The Falcon II provides Windows 7 users an ideal SSD solution with high performance and stability. All G.Skill Falcon series SSD solutions come with two years warranty and G.Skill’s FAE team is always ready to provide consumers complete technical support via online forums, telephone and email.

OCZ Technology Group today announced its collaboration with SandForce on OCZ’s next generation of mainstream and enterprise solid state drives (SSDs). Based on the highly-anticipated SandForce SSD Processor family, OCZ’s new line of SSDs will be the pinnacle of storage options.

To accommodate a wide range of consumer and enterprise storage applications, OCZ’s impending solutions will feature various configurations of SandForce’s innovative SF-1500 and SF-1200 SSD Processors and multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory.

The SandForce-based SSD line will be available in multiple interfaces including 3Gb/s SATA and 6Gb/s SAS in capacities ranging from 50GB to 400GB, addressing an assortment of storage and infrastructure requirements.

“OCZ is committed to delivering SSD solutions to our enterprise clients and also has a strong following for our consumer solid state products; partnering with SandForce enables us to offer an even more robust offering to both these markets,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. “Together with SandForce we are focused on making enterprise-class MLC-based SSDs which offer excellent reliability and performance coupled with superior total cost of ownership for all our customers.”

The OCZ Technology Group aims to take storage to the next level with SandForce SSD Processors, further increasing the advantages of SSDs over traditional hard disc drives for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), enterprise clients, and enthusiast consumers who place a premium on performance, total cost of ownership (TCO), and efficiency.

The first product announcements will be made in the next few weeks leading up to the 2010 International CES show.

According to a new study, if HDDs continue to progress at their current pace, then in 2020 a two-disk, 2.5-inch disk drive will be capable of storing more than 14 TB and will cost about $40 (today, a typical 500 GB hard drive costs about $100).

Although flash memories have also become popular – with advantages such as lower power consumption, faster read access time, and better mechanical reliability than HDDs – the cost per GB for flash memories is nearly 10 times that of HDDs. In addition, flash memory technology will reach technical limits that will prevent its continued scaling before 2020, keeping them from replacing HDDs.

In a study published in a recent issue of IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Professor Mark Kryder and PhD student Chang Soo Kim of Carnegie Mellon University have investigated 13 up-and-coming NVM technologies to see whether one of them might outperform HDDs on a cost-per-TB basis in 2020. Their results showed that most technologies will probably not be competitive with HDDs or flash memories at that time, except for two potential candidates: phase change random access memory (PCRAM) and spin transfer torque random access memory (STTRAM).

As Kryder and Kim explained, PCRAM is based on the phase change properties of chalcogenide glass. With the application of heat, the glass can switch between two different states (amorphous and crystalline) to be used as a memory. With their small cell size and ability to store multiple bits per cell, PCRAMs have the potential to offer high densities and be cost-competitive with HDDs, but their biggest drawback is that they require somewhat higher power than most other technologies. PCRAMs are already beginning to be marketed by Numonyx Inc., an Intel-ST Microelectronics joint venture, and so are closer to practical realization than STTRAM.

STTRAM, which is similar to magnetic RAM, uses a spin polarized current to write data by reorienting the states of a magnetic tunnel junction between parallel and anti-parallel orientations. In their evaluation, Kryder and Kim found that STTRAMs appear to potentially offer superior power efficiency, among other advantages. If STTRAMs could be improved to store multiple bits per cell, the researchers predict that STTRAMs’ density could make them candidates for replacing flash memory and possibly HDDs [via physorg].

Vertex SSD Firmware, v1.4, has now been released. It is well known that overtime the NAND flash memory in traditional solid state drives is effected by data fragmentation which causes the drives to slow down noticeably.

While competing drives still suffer from performance degradation, OCZ’s exclusive SSD firmware helps keep performance at peak levels without any further maintenance from consumers. The background optimizer runs during idle-time to restore the SSD to its original performance, providing peace of mind for the entire life of the drive.

In addition, these drives will fully support TRIM with the impending Microsoft Windows 7 release, making OCZ SSDs a future-proof investment.

Please note: this new firmware is not for the Vertex Turbo. More info here.

Incoming search terms:

• vertex vx900 firmware

The new Extreme Series X256 drive offers sequential read speed up to 240MB/s and sequential write speed up to 170MB/s. The drive is equipped with an Indilinx Barefoot controller and uses Samsung multi-level cell NAND flash memory along with 64MB of on-board cache to eliminate any stutter issues.

Corsair already offers 32-, 64- and 128GB models in the Extreme series and all of the models come with upgradable firmware that will enable end-users to add new features such as the TRIM function when it becomes available in Windows 7 which will help users avoid the performance degradation that have plagued some drives over time.

Corsair stated the drives are available now from its resellers with no official word on price, although several online retailers are currently offering the drives in the $670-$680US range.

DigiTimes reports that Memory makers are looking forward to Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. They expect the SSD optimizations in the new operating system will spur demand for NAND flash (SOlid State) memory.

At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in November 2008, Microsoft senior lead program manager Leon Braginski claimed that the Windows 7 would work better with SSDs. Optimizing SSDs for the upcoming OS has become focus for SSD manufacturers and notebook makers in the midst of the current market uncertainty.

NAND flash chipmakers are also pinning hopes on the new OS, according to industry sources, with SSDs expected be favored for more new-generation PC models.